Following the uproarious reaction to Bernie Ecclestone's claim that incidents involving blacked out faces at Barcelona were a joke, F1 drivers David Coulthard and Mark Webber defended the sport's chief executive.

And even though the instances of anti-Hamilton racism were serious and not one-offs, Irvine has joined the calls for calm.

"The world is full of people who are racists and we are never going to change that," the 43-year-old Ulsterman said in his column for Virgin Media.

"The world is full of people who like black people and people who like white people. Who cares?

"They can do what they want on the internet as long as they physically don't hurt anyone," Irvine said, dismissing the racism as "bad taste" and the result of poor education.

He advises Hamilton to rise above the abuse.

"I'm a big believer in 'sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.'

"Call me what you want, I don't give a damn, leave it at that," Irvine explained.